My Favorite Twitter #Brands

Social media is ubiquitous in today’s day and age, and it is essential that brands get it on the action. However, how does one do it in a way that not only a) increases the awareness of your brand, and b) build up warm feelings towards said brand. Contrary to what many PR professionals may be trained to do in the business world, it is essential that (many) brands be more casual and relatable on social media. So, I am going to list off my favorite #brand Twitter feeds, as well as why I like them.

Funny, self-aware, and does a great job of taking the persona of a carefree, wholesome person. They do not throw bull at the audience, as they know there is a person behind the account. They just make content that makes you smile, just like the snack!

Helper is another brand that takes a persona: But Hamburger Helper takes this to an entirely new level by playing the role of a SoundCloud rapper. In fact, they released a mixtape named “Watch the Stove” in 2016.

What could’ve been a cheesy (no-pun-intended) “mixtape” that drew eyerolls turned out to be one of the better rap albums of 2016. Rather than have a room full of ad people and branding jingles, the Minneapolis-based company enlisted the help of many local rappers to produce content that had legitimate artistic value. Once again, this isn’t about being a brand, it’s about adopting a relatable persona. It’s also worth noting that this is terrific for the college-aged market, which one could figure could use the affordable Hamburger Helper.

The only reason Helper is not number one is because they aren’t as active as one would like a brand to be on Twitter. However, when they put out content, it is straight fire.

Did you expect to see the band most famous for Shrek? Neither did I. They are a delightful follow because of their weird combination of normal branding (promoting albums, concerts, etc.) and their hot sports takes.

SmashMouth, a ska band that specializes in dated “guilty pleasure” hits like “All Star,” somehow remains relevant in 2018 with their Twitter presence. If you tweet them, there is a good chance they’ll tweet back! In an era where one can stream any song at a moment’s notice, just remaining in the headlines can be important.

This brand gained notoriety during their basketball team’s historic upset of top-seeded Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The athletic department Twitter account got sassy, and took advantage of the moment, skyrocketing to over 88,000 followers on Twitter, which is more than the athletic departments of major schools like Ole Miss, Purdue, Georgetown, Wake Forest, and Duke.

In the end, my favorite brands on Twitter have something unique about them. They aren’t “brands” in the traditional sense. They are personas that use the brand as a way to curate and create unique content that contributes to conversation, puts smiles on people’s faces, or even drops a mixtape. People don’t follow brands, they follow people, and that is something that is common with all four of these brands: They’re people.